Trust in Us

by Altonya Washington

  Aly was drawn to the wall of glass that filled the far right and rear wall of the living room. The scene before her eyes was stunning and provided an almost panoramic view that was impossibly more spectacular than her own.

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “Let’s see...” Gage focused on something in the distance. “Since yesterday.” He smiled when she turned on him with an exasperated look. “I had to be sure I’d have somewhere to stay if you decided not to let me into your place last night.”

  Alythia was on the verge of laughter. “And I guess all the hotels in Aspen were full?”

  “Anegada spoiled me.” He shrugged. “I’m used to being close to where you are now, I guess.”

  “All in the span of a few days.” She shook her head. “This is a pretty penny to drop on a place you’ll never use.”

  He eased his hands into the pockets of his navy carpenter’s pants and frowned over her prediction. “Why do you think I won’t use it?”

  “Do you have business here?”

  “Sure do.” He shut the door, rested back against it. “I was at work all night last night.”

  “Be serious.” Alythia fought against smiling and failed.

  “I am.”

  Her smile wavered. “Don’t tell me you bought this place for me?”

  “Would that scare you?”

  The quiet seriousness of his voice held Alythia speechless for a moment. She didn’t know what to make of the steady gaze or easy stance next to the door, with which he beckoned her.

  “You don’t know me, Gage.”

  “I’m trying to fix that.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  Aroused, exasperated, angry at herself for not trusting that he was so right for her, she rolled her eyes and turned back to observe her understatedly plush surroundings.

  * * *

  Gage dropped his easy expression. In its place emerged uncertainty. For the thousandth time since he’d taken off after her, he asked himself what the hell he thought he was doing. He wasn’t unaware of his manner with women. Truth be told, his reputation wasn’t much better than that of his closest friends, but such things only elevated a man’s appeal, didn’t they?

  Unfair or not, women always fared far worse in the blows dealt to their reputations. It was an unfailing truth, whether the blows were earned or inherited. He’d toyed with reconsidering the Aspen trip, telling himself that he was in for an uphill battle.

  Regardless of its awesomeness, he knew that she’d regretted sleeping with him in Anegada. That regret had probably carried over to what had happened between them the night before, as well.

  And what about himself? He considered. Did he now imagine himself in love with her because of the mind-blowing sex they’d enjoyed? No...that wasn’t why he was there. Of that he was certain. The final hours of the Anegada trip were prime examples of hell in a handbasket. Such a beautiful environment tainted by such ugliness. Yet all he could think of while keeping the offending parties separated was how badly he craved the contentment Alythia’s presence provided him. She’d been an anchor in a storm and he had fallen in love with her.

  There was a knock at the door. Alythia watched as Gage answered. He admitted a small man dressed in dark trousers with a white shirt and a bow tie. The man brought with him a square table set for two and carrying silver platters with coffee and juice carafes.

  The server smiled in Alythia’s direction as he pulled the covers from the platters to reveal steaming dishes of fluffy scrambled eggs with pancakes, bacon and fruit.

  * * *

  “So, then, your brother-in-law is the epitome of the perfect man?” Gage asked.

  She and Gage were halfway through their filling breakfast. They had discussed Gage’s upbringing as an only child and being without cousins, as his parents were only children, as well. Alythia sat riveted by stories of family vacations to Spain and Africa—places she could scarcely imagine as a child. When it was her turn to share, she couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious about her humdrum upbringing. Gage, however, seemed completely absorbed in her stories. Encouraged, Alythia felt more engaged as her talk moved to her older sister’s true-love tale.

  “She wouldn’t agree that Owen’s the perfect man but... Well, the girl’s always been a little silly.” Aly joined in laughing with Gage at her sister’s expense.

  “He does stay busy, though.” Alythia relaxed in her chair and sipped at her almond coffee. “Life of a lawyer, I guess.”

  “Wait a minute.” Gage’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Is your bother-in-law Owen Hays? The attorney?”

  “That’s him.” Alythia beamed.

  “I’ve seen your sister.” He regarded Aly with heightened appraisal. “I’m thinking her husband is very devoted to her.” He placed a finger alongside his temple. “Your parents shared an awesome gene pool with their girls.”

  “Thank you.” She nodded, gracefully accepting the compliment. “But it’s not just good genes that caught Owen’s eye. Angela did everything right.”

  “How so?”

  Feeling rejuvenated by the fabulous breakfast and the wintry view, Aly didn’t mind talking. “She was just a great example. No one told her to be. I guess she felt like she had to be for me, the baby. There weren’t many shining examples where we’re from....” She placed her mug on the table and propped her chin on the back of her hand.

  “Making sacrifices and walking good paths...they aren’t things people just do because others need or expect it. There has to be a real good deep-down reason that gives them the ability to see it all through.”

  As she confided to him, her amethyst stare alight with love and admiration for her sister, she imagined that Gage must have been wondering how much of that “real good deep-down” she had.

  “Angie already had four years under her belt as a prosecutor—a damn good one—before she met Owen. She’d worked hard enough to call her own shots, but working that hard doesn’t leave much time to develop relationships.” Aly shrugged her brows. “Good thing for her, too—helped her live up to that lofty goal of saving herself for marriage.”

  “You think that’s why Owen was interested?” Gage leaned closer, resting both elbows on the table.

  “Isn’t that what all men want?” Alythia averted her eyes. “To be the first and the last?”

  “Some men only care about being the last.” An animal intensity sharpened his features. “You only care about that when you’ve found the right one.”

  Aly wouldn’t let herself fall under the spell that his liquid gaze was wholly capable of weaving. “It was obvious to Owen that Angela was the right one.” Her intention had been to keep the conversation on funny family stories, but she found herself discarding the decision.

  “How’d you find me, Gage? Why?”

  “I put my already overworked assistant to work on it, got my results fast,” he told her at last.

  Aly nodded, following the invisible design her fingers traced on the tablecloth. “Are you used to getting your results quickly?”

  “In some things.”

  “Business?”

  “Always.”

  “Women?”

  “Frequently.”

  “You forgot one,” he said when it seemed she was done with her questions. “Things that matter,” he supplied.

  Aly regarded him curiously. “Doesn’t your business matter?”

  “Things that last, then.”

  “What’s your track record there? With things that last?”

  “Not sure,” he responded, but he looked uncertain. “I never went after anything I truly cared about lasting.”

  “Your business—”

  “Business isn’t even in the same hemisphere as this, Alythia.”

  She ducked her head, trying to soothe her uncertainties about the words she was about to utter. “Why’d you come to find me, Gage? You and I enjoyed Anegada for the most part. There would’ve been no harm in letting it
end there. Considering...”

  “You’re right.” Absently, he stirred at the honey butter that had been left behind following their breakfast. “I guess a big part of that enjoyment is what brought me out here. A big part, but not even half of it.”

  “How long can you stay?” Suddenly she wasn’t altogether sure that she wanted to know the other part of what brought Gage Vincent to her doorstep.

  “I’m the boss.” He reclined in his chair again. “I can stay for as long as I want.”

  “And what of your overworked assistant?” Her smile was playfully judgmental.

  “It’ll be good for him to be in charge for a little longer. Besides, I’ve got him at work on closing a pretty big deal. I shouldn’t get back too soon and have the poor guy thinking the boss is micromanaging.”

  Alythia laughed, though she was all too aware of the “deal” Gage’s assistant was most likely trying to close.

  “Thank you for this.” She cast an appreciative look around the room. “I, um...I really do need to check on things at the boutique.”

  He nodded. “Dinner later? We’ll go out.” He chuckled, correctly reading the smile she returned. “We’ll be around lots of low drama, I promise.”

  “Gosh...not even a lovers’ spat?”

  “Especially not a lovers’ spat.”

  “It’s a date!” Aly threw back her head to laugh again. She caught the sheer heat flooding Gage’s eyes as he only watched her.

  “I should go.” She pushed out of her seat. “This was really nice.”

  Alythia stood while Gage continued to recline in his chair. She was passing him when he snagged her wrist and tugged her down into a kiss that grew wet and needy in a second. Aly was moaning weakly and entwining her tongue around his in a lazy tangle before she bit his lip softly and repeated the erotic action. She was in his lap a moment later.

  Willpower was nonexistent where Gage was concerned, and she could accept that. In his arms, she could imagine that they could be more. It didn’t matter that reality screamed they could be nothing more than a fling.

  Gage patted her hip, broke the kiss to drop one behind her ear. “I’ll see you later,” he whispered.

  It was no small feat for Aly to draw herself away, but she managed. She made a dash for the door before she said to hell with business and uncertainty and returned to take what she wanted from him.

  Outside his door, she rested back to slow her breathing and was summoned from her haze by the chiming of her phone. Marianne. Alythia changed her mind about answering. Casting a lingering look across her shoulder at Gage’s door, she turned and sprinted down the hallway toward her own.

  Charlotte, NC

  “Great,” Marianne Young whispered when her call went to voice mail. She considered hanging up and then decided to give her client the news Mari guessed Alythia had been dreading.

  “Aly, it’s Mari. Looks like Jeena was right. Gage Vincent is the silent power hovering over the new downtown space. Call me. We should discuss how you want to handle it. Talk to you soon.”

  Marianne ended the call only to have the phone ring less than a minute later. “Aly?” she greeted without checking the faceplate.

  “Webster Reese,” a deep voice countered.

  “Oh! I—I’m sorry.” Marianne collapsed back into her desk chair.

  “I’m the one who should apologize, Ms. Young.”

  “Oh?”

  Webb chuckled at her bewildered tone. “I didn’t mean to upset you the other day when I called for information on your client Alythia Duffy.”

  “Oh...Mr. Reese.” Marianne remembered then. “It’s okay—”

  “No, it’s not, and I apologize a lot better in person.”

  “Mr.—Mr. Reese, are you...asking me out?” Mari leaned forward in her chair, threading fingers through her reddish-brown bangs. “That’s really not necessary and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea anyway.”

  “Oh?” Webb let his bewilderment show.

  Mari cringed. “We’re, um...we’re kind of caught up in a business deal.”

  “Business?” Webb’s bewilderment showed no signs of waning.

  “My client’s trying to secure retail space in a building your boss owns. We’ve submitted a bid and everything.”

  “Yuck. I take it our bosses don’t know any of this.”

  “Just told mine via voice mail.”

  “Ouch.” Webb followed up with a grunt. “I think I’ll just stay a little too busy to inform my boss.”

  Marianne cringed again. “He won’t take it well, I guess?”

  “I can’t say, Ms. Young, but something tells me that I don’t want to be the one to tell him.”

  * * *

  “Dammit...” Alythia had just replayed Marianne’s message in hopes of hearing a different version and had not gotten her wish.

  Perhaps she was making a mountain out of a molehill. Maybe it wouldn’t rattle Gage in the least to discover that the woman he was seeing wanted space in a prime piece of real estate that he owned. Maybe he wouldn’t think that she’d been sleeping with him to better her chances at securing it.

  Maybe he wouldn’t think that—if she hadn’t slept with him two days after meeting him.

  “Stop, Aly.” She tried to focus on getting ready for dinner. The comb stilled in her hand and she studied it through the mirror without really seeing it. Then she was hurling the wide-toothed instrument across the room and holding her head in her hands when it hit the wall.

  Chapter 13

  The Soup Niche lived up to its name as a popular locale for the most savory soups and stews in the area. While its menu downplayed the obvious, the Niche held equal appeal for the high-end jet-setters and college-aged X Gamers who frequented the area. It was a place that made a person feel right at home and it was exactly what Alythia needed that night.

  She and Gage had opted for jeans and bulky sweatshirts instead of more casual-chic attire, both of which were in fine form at the Niche. Between drinks, appetizers and the main course, Aly had taken off her gray hiking boots and tucked her legs beneath her on the oversize gold armchair she occupied at their table for two.

  “Is this okay?”

  Aly shook her head when he grinned. “You know it is.” She looked around at the dining room, fire lit courtesy of the wild flames licking the wide hearths that occupied various corners of the cozily designed room. “I haven’t had the chance to come here before. I definitely won’t forget it.”

  “Neither will I.” Gage gave a pointed look toward a few high-enders who had decided on a more upscale style of dress to enjoy their soup dinner in.

  “They’re only being respectful of the food.” Aly inhaled the intermingling of aromas.

  “Never thought of it that way.” He shrugged while slathering a roll with an obscene amount of butter. “I’d rather pay my respects to the food by eating it.”

  “Agreed.” Aly raised her spoon in a mock toast and then followed suit when Gage dug into a deep bowl of hearty beef stew.

  * * *

  They were completing their second bowl of stew from their personal soup tureen set in the center of the table when the server arrived to replace their empty beer pitcher with a fresh full one.

  Gage settled back to study his date while the waiter supplied their refills. His cocoa stare maintained a knowing frequency as he watched Alythia, who had grown increasingly quiet as the food disappeared. Once the waiter had finished with the refills, Gage reached for his chilled mug and helped himself to a healthy swig.

  “Gage? I need to tell you something.”

  He smiled. “Okay.”

  “I got a call from Charlotte.”

  Gage’s mug hit the table with a thud that sent the beer sloshing up over the mouth of the glass. The liquid coated his hand.

  “Calm down.” Aly reached over to dab a napkin at his wet skin. “It’s not about our friends—it’s about business.”

  Gage took the napkin and handled the task of drying his hand. His
movements were virtually mechanical, his gaze curiously expectant.

  “The call was from my business manager. She’s been working to help me secure a spot in the downtown area.” Aly pushed her bowl aside and then laced her fingers on the table. “Word is it’s a building that you own.”

  His expression revealed nothing. “How do you know it’s mine?”

  “I didn’t...at first, but my manager’s very good at her job. When your assistant called trying to help you find me...well, it wasn’t too hard to connect the dots.”

  “How long have you known this?” Gage maintained his unreadable expression.

  “I swear I only found out this afternoon.” Aly brought her clasped hands to her chest. “Marianne left a message but I—I didn’t listen to it right away.”

  “Alythia.” He measured the nervous excitement in her eyes. “Honey, it’s your turn to calm down.”

  “But I never intended to deceive you with this.”

  He reached over to pull one of her hands from her chest. “Alythia, stop. It’s all right.”

  “It is?” She blinked.

  “Exactly what did you expect me to say or do?” He looked toward the hand clutching the front of her emerald-green sweatshirt. “Did you think I’d call you names and leave on the first flight back to Charlotte?”

  “Something like that.” She pressed her lips together and then shook her head. “Aren’t you at least a little pissed that we...have this thing between us?”

  “It seems like we always have things between us. Honestly, I’d rather it be about business than our friends.”

  “Agreed,” she sighed, though her expression and the weakness of her voice said otherwise.

  Gage fidgeted with the stem of the once-frosted mug. “People say I’m good at what I do because I’m patient.”

  “I may’ve heard that somewhere.” She smiled.

  “I don’t know how that could be totally true when I’m possessive as hell.” His gaze was level and unwavering toward her. “I say all that to get you to understand that I don’t plan on walking away from this or roaring at you for thinking you had deceived me. If that’s what you were banking on, you probably shouldn’t have told me you’d discovered that news in the first place.”